Michael Adamson of Bo'ness was killed while working for Mitie Engineering Services, a court found yesterday. His family released this statement:

"Know that every time we see a Mitie Engineering silver-grey van, we think of the private ambulance of the same colour which brought the body of a loving son, brother and fiance from a Dundee mortuary to an Edinburgh funeral director's.

"And we hope for the sake of all families like ours that never again will one of your employees leave home in a works' van and return in one belonging to an undertaker.

"So, to all who can make a difference to health and safety standards - be you a director, manager, supervisor or fellow employee and in whatever industry you operate - we urge you to take action before it's too late.

"Because, no court case or penalty imposed by the courts will bring Michael back from his final journey to a far too early grave."

• Glasgow Herald

World Food Day 2008: Vegetarianism against global hunger COMMOM PRESS RELEASE 16 October 2008 On 7-8 October 2008, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the United Nations marked the anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights which assures everyone's entitlement 'to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food'. Sixty years after signing that declaration of good will, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) is planning the celebration of World Food Day 2008 set to 'highlight the plight of 923 million undernourished people in the world'. What went wrong? Why are almost one billion people still excluded from the most basic of Human Rights in the 21st century? "Every child who dies of hunger in today's world has been murdered," accused Jean Ziegler, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. Indeed, how can any society calling itself civilized accept that while worldwide every five seconds a child dies because she or he is hungry, around 1.5 billion cows and bulls and an astronomical number of other farm animals are being fed with a huge share of available crops? More than the populations of USA, Canada and the EU do not have enough to eat National and international decision makers have initiated a multitude of projects and campaigns in their fight against hunger; unfortunately, nothing has improved the situation. The non-stop misery caused by hunger calls urgently for fresh strategies, of which vegetarianism must be one! In the interest of justice and humanity the present wasting of 7-16 kg of grain or soy beans, up to 15,500 liters of water, and 323 m2 of grazing land that yields just one kilo of beef cannot be allowed to continue. 23 September 2008 was 'Overshoot Day' - milestone when humanity will have used all the resources nature will generate this year Considering that globally, we now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles, 'Overshoot Day' should be a wake-up call for politicians and individuals alike. With the aim of helping people in need, saving the environment and boosting public health, the reduction or the end of eating meat is the easiest and most beneficial way ahead. The fact that we do have more than enough resources to feed everyone must no longer be compromised by the greed for meat. Bunny Huggers, UK www.bunnyhuggers.org.uk Contact: info@bunnyhuggers.org.uk Association Végétarienne de France http://www.vegetarisme.fr/ Centro Vegetariano, Portugal http://www.centrovegetariano.org/ European Vegetarian and Animal News Alliance (EVANA) www.evana.org EVA vzw - Ethisch Vegetarisch Alternatief, Belgium www.vegetarisme.be Globetransformer http://www.globetransformer.org/ Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA), USA www.JewishVeg.com Romanian Vegetarian Society http://www.svr.ro/ Swiss Union for Vegetarianism www.vegetarismus.ch Vegan Society Austria http://www.vegan.at/ Yoga in Daily Life International http://www.yoga-in-daily-life.org/ The Press Release is online: http://www.evana.org/index.php?id=38147&lang=en ============= Petition to the UN 'Food vs Feed' – 'appeal to the United Nations and its agencies to stop ignoring vegetarianism and instead study its multi-faceted benefits, with the aim of incorporating them into future strategies for a world without hunger http://un.evana.org/ - (23 languages) The Press Release online: http://www.evana.org/index.php?id=38147&lang=en